The Bridal Shower
At one time, marriage was a business proposition between parents of the bride and groom. Love was not important. What was? The price the groom’s family paid for the bride and the bride’s dowry. The first shower? A poor Dutch miller fell in love with a maiden whose father forbade the match and refused to buy a dowry. The millers friends came to the rescue and showered the bride-to-be with enough gifts in order to start housekeeping. Want to make shower shopping easy for your friends?
When you visit your Wedding Gift Registry to list your china, sliver and crystal choices also sign up for your kitchen gadgets, linens, cookware and whatever else you need to set up your first home.
The Honeymoon
The first marriages were by capture, not by choice. When early man felt it was time to take a bride, he carried of a woman to a secret place where her relatives could not find them. While the moon went through its phases, about 340 days, they hid form the searchers and drank a brew made form honey. Hence we get the word honeymoon, now meaning a romantic trip like the one the bride and groom take after a marriage.
If you want to find out where pink sand beaches and blue crystal waters are, which places tuck themselves in at sunset or which ones still swing until dawn, just ask your travel agent. Their staff will help you to plan a perfect dreamy honeymoon that you will love.
The Bride and Groom Exchange Gifts
On their wedding day, the groom gifts his bride with a very special present that tells her of his love and his joy that she has consented to become his wife. She usually wears this gift to the alter.
The bride may also choose to give her groom a wedding day memento also. Her gift is entirely optional but most brides want to take this opportunity to convey their love in this way.
The custom of a gift exchange between the bride and groom centers around gifts of wedding jewelry. Jewelry is appropriately significant and properly sentimental for commemorating the wonderful day of their wedding. The jeweler has many winsome treasures that are exactly right as timeless keepsakes for both the bride and the groom. The jeweler’s guidance and advice can always be counted on to help each make a meaningful gift choice that will be prized and cherished for years to come.
Throwing Rice
Since the remotest times, from India to Persia and ancient Rome to the British Isles, cereal grains have been thrown at newly married couples for luck and fertility.
Confetti is a modern substitute. The original word meant “sweetmeats”, springing from the custom in medieval Europe of hurling bonbons on the couple in front of the church. At Roman weddings, nuts were used in place of cereal grains, and are sometimes still strewn at wedding brunches in France. Be sure to check with your local church or hall about their policies regarding throwing rice or confetti.
Healthy Tips For Brides
Each year thousands of brides want to lose weight before their wedding. Finding a program that is flexible, simple to follow and that easily fits into any lifestyle, even that of a bride to be, is important.
It is best to learn valuable information on how to integrate healthy behaviors and eating habits right into your everyday routine. It is important to lose weight in a healthy manner so you can fit comfortably into your slim-fitting wedding gown now and on your tenth anniversary!
Here’s a few tips to get you started:
Losing weight with a friend (or fiancé) is easier and more fun than going it alone. Encourage your bridesmaids, family members or fiancé to join you in your efforts to look and feel your best for the big day. Plan a night or day each week when you can all get together, prepare a healthy meal and discuss the status of the wedding plans.
Some brides do not include plans to eat before the ceremony and end up NOT eating. This could cause you to feel faint (and even faint) at your own wedding! Plan to have something light and easy to eat, possibly when you and your bridesmaids are getting ready, perhaps a sandwich tray with fruit and vegetables. Put someone in charge of delivering it. Keep bottled water handy to stay hydrated throughout the day.
Bring healthy snacks along while shopping for the big day. With all the hustle and bustle surrounding their wedding, brides often let themselves get famished while running their errands. This can lead to sluggishness, unhealthy binge eating and poor snacking habits. Healthy carbohydrates from fruit and vegetables and proteins are your best weapons against weight gain and poor eating that will cause dramatic fluctuations in your blood sugar levels, often leading to cravings for food, even when your body isn’t actually in need of it.
When registering for wedding gifts, there are some kitchen tools for healthy cooking that you may want to add to the list. A crock-pot can be a great way to prepare hot, home cooked meals while your are at work. A good set of knives can be very expensive and make a great gift request. Good brand names like Kitchen Aid and Cuisinart are worthwhile additions to any kitchen. Put thought into what tools will work best for you in your efforts to prepare healthy meals. Need a juicer? Steamer? Serving dishes? Having good cooking tools will make your experiences with food preparation just that much nicer.
Join a weight loss program that provides a healthy eating plan. With so many popular diets to chose from, Atkins, the Zone, South Beach, as well as companies there just to help you lose weight like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and LA Weight Loss, it is worth your while to ask around and do some research before choosing a program to suit your lifestyle. Remember the basic elements to any weight loss program and healthy lifestyle, eat more vegetables and less breads and pastas and save alcohol and treats like ice cream or potato chips for special occasions (or just the once a month when you simply must have it). Keep your goals realistic and take one step at a time to improve your habits. If you don’t have a lot of time, be prepared to fight for your goal and for yourself. Food advertisements, well meaning friends urging you to have ‘just one drink’ and family dinners can deter you from your goals. Writing down the steps you are going to take to achieve your weight loss and reviewing them every night will help keep you on track. And if you fall off the wagon, get back on. If you are too hard on yourself and quit, you’re telling yourself that extra weight is ok. The pride you will feel in yourself for sticking with your healthy resolutions will ‘taste’ better than any food
Now, get reasy to walk down that isle and feel like a million bucks!